Little Numbers on a Cardboard Cup
by TrickstersImp
Summary: "Why I am feeling this Jade? Explain it all away, make it all better. You always have a solution to everything, always a quick word to say, so why can't you fix me now? I'm not supposed to be feeling this... not for you."/ or Jade got dumped, and life spat on Tori. Jade didn't even know who she was writing to, but a few numbers on a cup which says Vega can change your life. AU.
1. The Cup That Said Vega

**Note to Americans. Brits write dates the other way around than Americans do. So for example, Christmas Day 2012 would be written as this in date form – 25/12/12. All dates in the story will be written in this manner.**

**3/1/12 - 9:33 am**

Jade walked fast along the cold street. The shop where she worked was just up the road from here. She didn't particularly want to go to work today, but she had to. If nothing else then it would help her take her mind of what a mess her life had become.

She had thought about staying home today, and claiming to be ill, but she knew that nobody would fall for it. After all, they had only just got back after the holidays today. And Jade had fairly obviously been well yesterday. Maybe if she had skipped yesterday, then she would be better off skipping today. The difference was, yesterday she thought she could handle it. Today she knew that she wouldn't be able to handle seeing Beck again.

Subconsciously, she pulled her woolen coat together slightly, almost snuggling in the warmth of it as the thought of their break-up left a cold sensation inside of her. She tried not to think about it, but slowly the thought edged its way into her mind. Anger bubbled up inside of her subconsciously as she thought of the memory, before brushing it aside in favour of something much more pleasurable.

_Presents._

Her presents were always a good thing to think about. She should think about those presents that were just sitting there underneath the tree, glistening with red and black ribbons and wrapping. There was that glorious pair of scissors, with the sharpest edges that she had ever felt, the ones that had drawn blood against her finger and the blood had dripped down her finger, landing on the floor in a perfect circle.

_Oh, and that necklace that Beck had given her._

No.

_No._

**_No._**

She wasn't allowed to think of that. She had chucked the necklace back at him when they had broken up. She didn't know why Beck had given her the necklace in the first place if he was just going to break-up with her after New Year.

She wondered why it had been so sudden. Had he been thinking about it for ages and decided suddenly that this was _the best time to break it to her? _Had he just got sick of her?

Had he been cheating and the other girl had finally got sick of Jade?

_Oh God Beck cheating. Beck running his hands through another girl's hair. Beck kissing another girls neck. Beck teasing her, running his arms all over another girl. Beck sleeping with another girl._

Maybe Beck had gotten another girl pregnant. Maybe one day Beck would come in and announce that he was getting married, and then nine months later Beck would come in and announce that he was having a son.

Had it just been one hook-up? Had he gone out one night with his mates and seen a pretty girl?

_Beck saw far too many pretty girls._

Had that pretty girl liked Beck?

_Pretty girls always liked Beck._

Had they spent the night in each-other's arms, kissing desperately? Had they never seen each-other again, until one night where the girl called in tears and told Beck that she was pregnant?

_Or had it been going on for longer than that?_

Had it been a secret affair? Had Beck been sneaking around behind her back? Had it been lots of secret kisses and meetings that Jade never knew about?

_Oh God, had it been that time when Beck had gone to that audition? Had it been everytime that Beck went to an audition? Was that why he never got a job?_

_Was that why they were still both working in a coffee shop?_

But Beck was fine working in a coffee shop. But that was because Beck was the manager of the coffee shop. It was why Jade had to come into work today. She did not know whether Beck would take the opportunity to get rid of her while he had the chance, but she wasn't willing to find out.

She couldn't afford to lose this job. She barely had enough money to keep going anyway without Beck's extra paycheck. If Jade could have quit this job, then she would have done. She wasn't a manager, as Beck was, but it paid more than being unemployed would.

_Jade had no family in New York. She couldn't call home. They'd tell her that she was stupid for even trying to make it to Broadway in the first place. She didn't know what she would do without this job._

Beck had been her shoulder of support to lean on… to depend on… _to cry on. And it was over. Beck had ended it. Beck had proved that he was just a selfish, cruel, evil, vicious, uncaring, emotionless, robotic, uninteresting, dull, gorgeous, unfeeling, romantic, sappy, amazing, terrible, frustrating, confusing, heartless, cold, son of a bitch._

No, that was cruel. _Beck's mother_ was very kind. It was his father that was evil. Beck and Jade had that much in common. Jade sometimes wondered if it was mandatory for businessmen to be evil.

Beck definitely took after his father.

_Wait._

_No._

_That could not be the sign of the coffee shop._

_She was still supposed to be ten minutes away._

_She was not supposed to have to face Beck yet._

_She was not supposed to have to do that yet._

_She was not supposed to have to lose all of her dignity yet._

Jade stopped for a moment outside the door, almost trembling, before inwardly sighing and pushing the door was supposed to be doing manager stuff, and leaving Jade to stay out of Beck's way.

She stopped short the moment she entered at the sight before her. "Why are you in an apron?"

"Why are you not?" Beck replied and it infuriated Jade how he could possibly be so calm while talking to her. Was he just going to pretend that they didn't break up two days ago? "You're late."

Jade didn't move a muscle. "Where's Cat."

"Gone home."

"Why?"

"Her grandfather died."

"Poor her. Why can't Robbie cover for her?"

"Because it isn't Robbie's job to run around covering for Cat."

"Oh yeah, and _it is yours."_

"I'm the manager. I'm in charge."

"You're only the manager because Trina was in love with you." The words were out of Jade's mouth before she could bite them back. Once they were out there though, Jade wasn't going to be sorry for them. A silence fell between the two of them, and Jade moved to put on her apron while Beck just stared at her, a slight amount of guilt apparent on his face.

_What happens if Beck really did get the job because Trina was in love with him? What happens if he slept with Trina? What happens if Beck broke up with Jade because of Trina._

**No. **She had to work now. It would take her mind of it.

* * *

**10:53 am**

"Come on André, what did they say? Tell me it is good news. I need good news." Tori struggled to hide the desperation in her voice. It was stupid, but she didn't want to sound weak in front of André. She didn't know exactly what her relationship with André was, but she didn't want to compromise it by sounding like a whining little girl. It was not professional either. She was either going to get the gig, or she wasn't. Pleading with André wasn't going to help her become an international super star within one day.

"I'm sorry Tor. They said you were just too sweet for them."

"Too sweet? What the fuck does that mean?" The swear words bounced off her tongue. She did not normally swear, but today it felt good. She had flunked another audition. Another company hadn't even cared about her demo. She did not care all that much about being polite, although she could almost sense all of the mothers in the café simultaneously shooting her dirty looks.

"I don't know Tori. Maybe if you shared that foul mouth in auditions, you wouldn't get the same response. They said you were too pre-teen, too Nickelodeon, too Disney."

"I am not Disney."

"Whatever Tori. I've got to go."

"Oh yeah. Go work for your fancy record company that think I'm _too sweet _for them. I bet by tomorrow you'll be producing heavy metal albums. Think about it," Okay, now Tori's voice was beginning to get pleading, "once upon a time you were in my position. If your fancy record company hadn't given you a chance, then you would be nowhere. Why can't you do the same thing for me?"

"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."

And with that, André hung up and left Tori standing there, holding the phone which had just destroyed her last lifeline.

She looked down at her phone, almost expecting for it to suddenly ring and make everything better.

_It was not going to ring. It never did. Nothing ever went right for Tori. Not anymore. She had always been told that she could make it. They were wrong, weren't they? She wasn't going to be able to make it._

There was a loud cough from in front of her. Tori looked up and around, surprised to find herself at the front of the queue. She had expected for it to take longer than it had.

"What do you want?" A bored voice asked the question, the waitress' blue eyes staring angrily at her as if Tori had done something unforgivable. Tori barely paid attention, still staring at her phone.

"Just give me a skinny late."

"Size." The girl's voice was getting patronising now, as if Tori was an idiot.

"Give me a tall."

"We're not Starbucks, you know." The waitress smirked, causing Tori to look up from her phone and look at the girl. Her hands were placed firmly on her hips, giving the look of someone who you would not mess with lightly. It was difficult to see at first glance, but her hair was scrapped back into a ponytail, in tatters at its ends, implying that the girl was not as together as she thought. Tori looked a little more carefully at the girl, this time taking in the smudged eyeliner and mascara.

"I'll take a regular." Tori attempted to make her voice soothing, but it just made the girl look down on her more. She was still pretty, Tori realised. Despite the smudged make-up and the messy hair, she was pretty girl, and this was only increased by the rising smirk on the girl's face.

_The girl was prettier than Tori was._

_Tori bet that this waitress had never had a problem with trying to get her best friend to notice her as more than a friend, or managing to keep a boyfriend longer than two weeks._

"Name?" The girl asked and it took Tori a moment too long to respond, given that Tori was busy staring at the coffee girl's face.

"Vega." Her last name came out by habit, by the sheer amount of times she had been waiting in a room for an audition, waiting for her last name to be called. From the times she even sat there with a name tag.

"Vega…" The waitress paused, her voice hesitant. "There was a manager here a while ago… Trina?"

Once more, Tori's response was almost automatic. "I have no siblings." The tone came out a little bit harsher than normal. But it was Trina. Tori was used to having to claim no relation to Trina. Whether she auditioned for a play (when in New York), or a show (back home in LA), almost everybody would have heard of Trina. Trina had auditioned for _everything. And nobody ever forgot about Trina._

She would introduce herself as a Vega and they would ask about Trina, biting back a laugh.

The waitress muttered something, but Tori was too engrossed in her own thoughts to pay any attention.

_Maybe they laughed at Tori too. Maybe they waited until Tori had left, and then they laughed at the girl who thought maybe she could be famous. Who thought that maybe she could be a pop-star, or an actress._

The waitress stared at Tori. "Okay then." The girl said disbelievingly, a little bit surprised at Tori's tone. And then she just stood there, her blue eyes expectantly boring into Tori's brown ones. "Money. I need you to _pay me_."

"Oh. Okay. Sorry." Tori grabbed her purse, pulling out a fiver. That should be enough. The waitress gave her change quickly, and Tori stuffed it into her pocket, and headed over to where she could get her drink from.

_Tori had told herself she'd have a new start. She was going to get this demo, and everything was going to be great for her from now on. Yeah right. Nothing ever went to plan. Even when she got an audition, it was always that she _almost _got the part. Either she was too injured, or too tame, or too wild, or too _Disney. _And today was no different._

By the time Tori's coffee came, she was in such a state that she just wanted to grab her coffee and go to bed. She made it all the way out of the door and down the street, sipping her coffee and not noticing the extra digits on her cup, written in black marker.

When she was finished she just dropped it, not being bothered to find a bin.

_What was the point?_

She held her foot over it, about to stamp on it with her high heels, before she saw. There were nine little digits. It was somebody's phone number, written right next to the little name strip that read VEGA.

She thought back to the coffee shop. Yes, there had been the waitress with the long black hair and the blue eyes, but who else had there been?

…

Yes! There had been another worker. A guy, with dark hair and brown eyes like Tori's own. And he had been cute. A smile appeared on Tori's face as she picked up the coffee cup and inputted the number to her phone, before sending one text.

_Hello?_

* * *

**I think this is going to be a Jori threeshot, which is interesting, because I've never written Jori before, or a threeshot. There will be a heavy helping of both Bade and Tandre it this also.**

**And now for the blatant advertising. If you know much about me, you'll know that I run a forum (the number one VicTORIous forum), which is The Topaz Awards, dedicated to awarding the best stories in the fandom.**

**Our nominations don't start until the 5th, but it would be great if you checked it out. It's great fun, even when there are no awards. Anyway, please review, it's great to know somebody's read it. And I'll take all the criticism I can get. It just helps me get better.**

**_Forever Failing Better_  
**

**_IAmImperfect (Previously PerfectingImperfections)_**


	2. Jamming In The Bathroom

**_Thank you to Elimere, in the atmosphere, Le Hippie, Jeremy Shane, chase19, BeautyAsAWickedWitch and Azkadellio for reviewing._**

* * *

**11.09 am**

Jade's phone beeped loudly in her pocket as she moved to take some more orders. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Beck looking at her. But they couldn't exactly talk, they were both working.

_Jade had to keep working to have enough money to food and rent._

After a couple of moments, Beck brushed past Jade, close enough to whisper into her ear.

"Was that the guy whose cup you wrote your number on?"

Jade nodded quickly, wishing inwardly that she had a clue whose cup she wrote on. She had just seen Beck's smile as he flirted with one of the customers. And then she had picked up a pen and written her number. Thinking back, Jade wondered why she hadn't just written a fake number. If she had written a fake number, then she could have tried _(and failed)_ to make Beck jealous, and not have a random stranger texting her.

_But maybe she wanted somebody texting her. She wanted to get over Beck, didn't she? **No**. She **needed **to get over Beck._

For a moment, she was tempted to reach into her back pocket and pick up the phone. Her hand slithered to her back pocket, and she almost got out her phone and-

"Excuse me." A customer's voice pulled her back into what she was supposed to be doing.

"Uh huh." Jade's head swivelled back around to look at the customer, annoyance evident in her voice. Sometimes Jade wondered why she hadn't been fired yet. It wasn't as if she was charmingly flirtatious like Beck was, or super-friendly like Cat. She wasn't even as good at making coffee as Beck was.

Maybe she had just been here because she was dating Beck, and Beck did not want to fire her.

_Would Beck fire her now? If Jade was in Beck's position, she knew what she would do. If Jade had been manager instead of Beck, she would want Beck gone. Did that make Beck a better person than Jade was? Or was Beck just waiting for the right time to strike?_

The customer ordered quickly, which Jade was at least thankful for, before going on to natter on about her three kids. Jade plastered on a fake smile onto her face and nodded, trying to seem attentive, before giving up, and asking for the money.

She turned around to make the coffee, considering for a moment checking her phone once more. What harm could one text do?

_Unless she'd just written it randomly on the cup of some weirdo._

But eventually she was going to have to decide, wasn't she? She was either going to have to delete it, or she was going to have to give it a shot. But maybe she should try and get over Beck. It hadn't been very long, but she had never been the type to sit around and moan about her boyfriend. Beck and Jade had broken up before, but it had never quite felt as permanent as it did now. Before it had always been that Beck would walk away, and Jade wouldn't know whether he was coming back.

It hadn't been like that this time. Jade supposed Beck had finally done what she had wanted, and gotten some guts. This time, Beck had told her it was over. He had told her that there was something wrong with their relationship, and that it was not working. He had not done that before. It was finally over.

_Was it wrong that she had felt a sort of relief? They were finally done playing mind games with each other. They were finally done arguing and pretending that everything was alright when it wasn't'._

Her hand once more reached for her pocket, edging closer and closer and-

Then Beck brushed past her, and suddenly she felt his hand in her pocket. Jade winced, before reaching into the pocket herself. It was empty. Jade spun quickly, looking at Beck with angry eyes.

"Um. I'm sorry. Last time I checked, that was mine."

Beck leaned against the counter, a grin on his face. He held Jade phone in his hands, unlocking it with ease. Beck had discovered Jade's password a long time ago. Sometimes Jade wished he didn't know her quite so well.

"He's texted you back." Beck smirked, lazily looking through her messages. "He says 'hello?'. God, he's so witty, isn't he? It's obvious you've fallen for the next Will Shakespeare." Beck's eyes were harsher than she expected as they lifted to meet her own. "So what date are you free to meet this Shakespeare?"

She just stood there staring at him, slightly confused about what was going on. She didn't know whether she should find this funny, or whether she was entitled to go home and cry. At least this way Beck was making the choice for her.

_After all, if Beck wanted to move on, why couldn't Jade move on too? Beck was pushing her to do this. He obviously wanted her completely out of his life._

"The usual timings?" Beck glanced back at her, obviously unnerved by the lack of reaction, continuing on with Jade's phone with ease. "You have a date on Saturday."

Jade held herself together for one more moment, but that was too long. Her eyes narrowed with anger.

_How dare he? How dare he force her to move on? How dare Beck try to play a role in her life after it all? How dare he still try to act like he was behaving in her best interests? How dare he still order her about?_

_Beck ordered her about a lot. It seemed like Jade was in control, but she never was._

And then she launched herself at him, fingers reaching for her phone. She tickled, grasped and punched everything she could possibly manage. She was Jade, and she scary. She was supposed to be terrifying. And Beck had stopped being scared of her a while ago. That had to change.

"Uh hum…" There was a coughing noise from the other side of the counter.

"Fuck off." Jade snapped at the customer, glaring like she was about to take the customer's eye out and taking pleasure at the woman's horrified face.

And that was how she got fired.

**5/1/12 - 5:33 pm**

Why on Earth was Tori so nervous? This made no sense. She had never even met the boy who wrote on her cup. All she knew about him was that he was handsome. Surely she was deep enough to care about more than just looks.

_Maybe Tori cared about the fact that **somebody **cared about her. After all, André never had._

It was far too early to say that he cared though. All Tori knew right now was that he thought she was hot. She didn't know whether that made her happy or sad. After all, it was more than André had ever done.

_Why was she even still thinking about André? She should not be anymore. It was stupid. It was ridiculous. Maybe that was why she still cared. She still cared because he didn't. She cared because André had fallen for everyone. André fell hard and fast and it was always Tori's job to make everything better. It was her job to either help him get the girl or to make the pain of heartbreak go away. Where had been her best friend to help the pain that André caused go away._

She had tried forcing herself into a relationship before, but it had never worked. She always felt dull dread before a date, a feeling that had become familiar to her over time. She didn't know what was different this time, but she genuinely felt excitement. Maybe it was because André was away from her now, rather than a constant presence she saw every day.

_André was far away because he didn't care enough about Tori to come with her. He never even asked her to stay in LA with him. He didn't even take her to the airport to say goodbye._

Maybe she would finally have the sort of relationship that she'd always dreamed she'd have, even if it wasn't André that she would be having it with. There had been times when she thought she could care for somebody else though. She had cared for other people before. But they had let her down.

_Everybody always let her down._

But this relationship wasn't going to be like that. She knew that she was reading far too much into the first date, but she wasn't going to let it. She could just feel it. This was going to be the relationship that changed her life.

_She had to look perfect._

Okay, so what was first?

In a moment Tori answered her own question.

A shower. She needed a shower.

**5:47 pm**

Cold.

_Cold._

**_Cold._**

Oh God it was fucking cold.

What was wrong with the shower today? Why did it feel the need to break today?

_Everything in life just hated her._

Tori groaned, pushing the shower door open and grabbing a dressing-gown to wrap around herself. She pushed her hair back quickly and tied it into ponytail, brushing the loose strands off her shoulder. Tori pulled the door open quickly.

_Or at least, she tried to pull the door open._

She failed.

The door wouldn't open, no matter how hard she tried. It stayed firmly closed, almost taunting her.

"No." First of all the word was a mutter, something she said quietly to herself. And then she repeated the word just a little bit louder. "No."

And then it was a scream as she pounded against the door.

"NO!"

_Why did everything go wrong? Why was everything ruined? Why did life hate her so much?_

After a couple of minutes of pounding on the door, she knew that nobody was going to come to help her out. It wasn't as if there was a reason that somebody would come and help her. She lived alone in her apartment, with no roommate to come and let her out.

_That was partly why Tori was scared she would not be able to make the rent this month._

Tori sunk down against the door until she was sitting on her bathroom floor, grumbling inwarly. She would have gotten a roommate, after all, she knew that she should, but she just hadn't gotten around to it. Maybe it was because her flat was trash, so it wasn't as if anybody would want to live with her, and it was difficult to find somebody who would accept a roommate that had almost no way of paying the rent.

_And now she was trapped in her bathroom, all alone. She should have known this would happen._

Actually, maybe she couldn't be expected to figure out that the door to her bathroom was going to jam. But she knew that something was going to go wrong from her not getting a roommate. She didn't know exactly what she had expected. She guessed it was probably more that she was scared she'd end up on the streets when her Landlord finally got tired of Tori saying that she'd pay him back eventually.

She didn't know why she had not gotten a job yet. Maybe it was because she felt like when she got a small, minor job, like working in coffee shop; it was almost like she had given up on her dream. She felt like if she became a waitress, or got a job at Tesco or anything like that, then that was all that she would ever be. And Tori still felt like she might be rich and famous one day.

_It was stupid. It was never going to happen._

And in the end, this was where she ended up. She was sitting on the floor in her bathroom, completely unable to leave. And there was nobody who could hear her scream.

_It sounded like it was something out of a horror movie. But in reality, it was much worse. It was her life._

Oh God, that was depressing. Tori was full of self-pity at the moment and she absolutely hated it.

_She **hated** it._

_She had to stop this._

Tori bounced up off the floor, the beginnings of a smile appearing on her face. She was going to do something about this. She wasn't going to just sit here and be useless. She wasn't going to wait for life to hand her everything on a plate. Once upon a time, she had been able to do that, but that had been a long time ago, back when she was getting all the lead roles in her High School plays.

_These days nobody would even take her as an extra._

No

_No_

**_No._**

She was going to stop drowning in pity now. After all, wasn't that was this date had been about? Just fifteen minutes ago she had been happy. She had been ready for a whole new opportunity. It was going to change her life. It still could.

Tori's eyes scanned the room, searching for something that could help her, before landing on her phone. Taking quick steps over to it, she scrolled through her contacts list. There had to be somebody who could help her out of this _fucking _bathroom.

She scrolled down it for a moment, momentarily stopping at the 'A's to look at André's name before continuing on.

_Willpower Tori. **Willpower.**_

She stared at her phone for a moment, almost not being able to believe what she was seeing. None of these contacts were going to help her. They were all in LA. She had _no _friends in New York. She groaned inwardly, thinking about how _sad_ she had gotten. Did she really have no friends in the city she had been living in for weeks? It wasn't as if she had been lonely. She had plenty of people back in LA she kept in contact with. But there was no-one that lived near her.

She scrolled back up and down her contacts list.

What was she going to do now?

_She was trapped._

_Alone._

_In her fucking bathroom._

_She was going to miss her date._

Wait.

That was it. There was one person that she knew in New York. She wasn't sure if she allowed to say that she knew him, after a couple of texts and a coffee, but he was all she'd got.

She went down to the contact that could save her, and once more sent one text.

_I know how weird this is, but I really need help._

* * *

_**Okay. I would like to thank those that reviewed and those who alerted or favourited. - Although I would really like people who have alerted to review as well and tell me what you think.**  
_

_**Plus, the nominations for The Topaz Awards have started, so I'd love it if you came over. Just follow the link.**_

_**www-dot-fanfiction-dot-net/ forum/The_Topaz_Awards_2013/108350/**_

**_Forever Failing Better_**

**IAmImperfect**


	3. Dykes And Frilly Black Underwear

_**Thanks you to BeautyAsAWickedWitch, Azkadellio, xPerfectlyFlaweds, chase19 and TimelessReader for reviewing.**_

* * *

**5:58 pm**

Jade leaned back in her chair, one hand trying to angle the mirror the right direction in which to catch the sun, the other applying her mascara with a speed obtained through years of practice. Jade stood up once her make-up was perfected, placing her mirror on the desk.

Her phone buzzed on the desk next to it.

Jade smiled a little. It would probably be her date.

_What if her date was calling to cancel on her?_

She forced herself to smile, pushing the thought right out of her mind, and attempting to replace it with something happy, like blood, or scissors. She wasn't going to think about that now. Jade picked up her phone, looking at the message on the screen.

_I know how weird this is, but I need help._

Jade's eyebrows shot upwards. This was from a guy that she had met the previous day. Actually, Jade hadn't even met him yet. She clicked the message curiously, and typed her reply quickly.

_You're not stuck with your pants full of butter, are you?_

There was a moment when Jade wondered if she had scared him off, before realising that if he couldn't handle pants full of butter, then they shouldn't even be attempting to go out. It didn't take too long for him to reply though.

_No, but curiously enough, it does involve jam._

Jade smirked, waiting for more elaboration, hoping that she wasn't going to find the guy in an… indecent situation. Jade's smirk increased, as she tried and failed to pull her mind out of the gutter.

_I'm jammed in my bathroom._

This was almost as good as cable television. Jade turned around and headed towards the door, grabbing her coat as she went. She could easily predict what was going to happen next. She couldn't say she was disappointed that they weren't going to dinner though. It may not have a Michelin Star, but getting a guy out his bathroom was definitely interesting.

**6:25 pm**

Jade shivered as she walked, glancing around. This was definitely not an appetizing place to live. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to find a high-powered businessman sitting in the bathroom. She should have known that from the fact that he was, well, _stuck in his bathroom._

She hoped she wouldn't open the door to see a hobo sitting there.

_Wait._

She didn't even know this guy, did she? He could be a total creep. Jade was being really stupid at the moment. She glanced around once more, wondering if she should just go home. After all, there was no telling what she would see when she went to a strange man's flat all alone.

And when she phrased it like that, it really didn't sound like a very intelligent move at all. Despite herself, Jade kept walking, her eyes scanning the numbers on the doors to find the boy's flat. She half-heartedly wondered about how people would react upon finding her body, smiling quietly to herself as she wondered whether or not Beck would cry.

Her spirits rose morbidly as she realised that it might actually cause Beck to feel some emotion for once in his life. She smiled to herself as she walked down the pavement, everything seeming a little brighter as she walked happily to her possible death.

It didn't take too long to get to this guy's place. Or maybe it did, but Jade was too caught up in thinking of all the possible ways she could die tonight to feel the passage of time. She turned to the door of the apartment complex, glancing at the keypad next to the door that looked like it hadn't been used for years, before pushing the door tentatively.

The door swung open, any lock it had having been rendered useless years ago. The building appeared to be in use, although Jade herself wouldn't have wanted to live there. It only took one look at the elevator to see that it had joined the keypad in its broken state a while ago. Jade took to the stairs, thanking God that this guy didn't live in a hundred floors skyscraper.

Her eyes scanned her surroundings, hoping for something disgusting to brighten her day further. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be available, at least not before she reached her date's door. This door, however, was locked. She imagined you would have to be pretty stupid not to look your door in an area like this. But then again, she was talking about a guy who had managed to get himself stuck in his bathroom.

Chucking to herself, she took a few step back from the door and kicked her foot up and against the lock, trying to open it by brute force. After all, it would be unlikely that it would be a very good lock that was used on the door.

As Jade expected, the door swung open before her. Jade smirked, pulling the door closed behind her as she entered the room. The room was honestly not what she expected. She stared for a moment, almost confused by the neatness of the room, sticking her head out of the door for good measure, comparing the messiness of the outside to the room inside.

It was almost perfect inside. Jade smirked a little bit. Everything was almost perfectly in place. The room was full, almost stuffed to the brim, with a table in the middle, and chests, and even boxes full of stuff, but it was all in place, and there was nothing on the floor. Unable to dispel her curiosity, and honestly, unwilling to, Jade headed to the boxes.

Her curiosity turned to annoyance, quickly. There wasn't a single item of men's clothing in the entire box. Either this guy had a girlfriend, or he was a pervert. That was definitely proved by the lacey black underwear. She wasn't sure whether she would rather that he was taken, or whether he wore these himself.

She would probably prefer that he had a girlfriend.

Actually, she wasn't certain she would care if he had a girlfriend. She _needed _to move on from Beck. She didn't care that much about how long the relationship lasted. Maybe the three of them could have some fun together… After all, she wasn't exactly expecting anything to come out of it. She didn't expect to marry the guy.

_Who would want to marry Jade?_

And then she realised that she hadn't probably dated anybody but Beck in three years. Her hands dropped the underwear that she couldn't believe she was still holding and she turned towards the door. All she wanted to do was to go home and cry.

_But that was why she had to go and do this._

Before Jade could change her mind, she called out, making her presence known. "Hello?"

There was no reply.

"Hello?" She repeated herself, thinking to herself that if she didn't get a reply now she was going to leave. "Dude in the toilet?"

And the after a second she heard another voice. And it was pretty obviously female.

**6:37 pm**

"Hello!" Tori stood up quickly, resuming pounding on the door the moment that she heard a voice. "I'm in here!" She screamed as loud as she could, desperate to try and make herself heard.

A voice came quick to reply. "I'm coming."

Tori kept pounding until there was a noise on the other side of the door.

"What do I do now?" The voice that asked wasn't the one she had been expecting, but she didn't particularly care. She had been in this bathroom for half an hour now, and she wouldn't mind if a bunny rabbit popped up and pooped in all over her floor as long as she let her out. She was still in her robe, and it was beginning to feel rather unpleasant, sticking to her skin.

Her hair was dry around her shoulders, but knotted because of the lack of a brush.

She was actually pretty glad that her date hadn't showed up.

There was a moment where the stranger's question hung in air.

"I _don't know_ what you're supposed to do! Just get the door open!" Tori said, her voice mixed with panic.

There was a chuckle on the other side of the door. "That I can do." Tori could almost hear the girl on the other side of the door smile as she said it. "Back away from the door."

Curious and hopeful, Tori did as the girl asked, taking a few steps back and waiting.

She didn't have to wait for long. There was a thud against the door, and then a crack, and then the door swung wide open. Behind it was a girl, pale and dark haired, her hands on her hips and her foot still outstretched with a purple high heel.

There was a moment where they both just stared at each other, tension hanging in the air, and then the penny dropped. They knew each other. She was he girl who had served her that day in the coffee shop. It had been her that wrote her number on the cup.

Tori stared at the girl, the waitress that she had seen the other day, and the memories came flooding back into her.

Tori remembered what she had tried to forget. She remembered how it had been back in Sherwood, back when she was just fifteen. When she had met a girl and she had been pretty too, just like the waitress in front of her. And Ava had been sweet and kind and funny, and Tori had loved spending time with her. Ava had a flirty smile, and beautiful eyes, and she always used to wear high heels.

But none of that had saved her. And Tori hadn't managed to save her either. But then again, Tori had never managed to make herself try. Because if she had tried, then who would save Tori in the end?

The waitress' voice drew her back into the world of her present reality. "Well, you're not what I expected."

Tori's eyebrows shot up in response and she stuttered out a reply. "I- I'm not what _you _expected?"

The waitress kept talking, not missing a beat. "Yes, I just said that, weren't you listening?" A smug smile formed on her face. "I did expect someone prettier."

"So, you didn't write the number on my cup? You don't know who I am? You just decided to show up?" Tori was getting very confused very quickly.

The waitress laughed, her smile increasing. "No. I wrote the number. I didn't know it was you. If I did, I wouldn't have written it. You're the girl that thought we were Starbucks and got herself stuck inside her own bathroom."

Tori stood up, almost wanting to cry, but instead converting all of her energy into anger. "Hey, you're not exactly what I expected. I was expecting something a little more… _masculine._" She paused for a second, before deciding that she might as well try to play the girl's game. "But I have to say, you're not far off the masculine mark. But I guess that's what they say about…" Tori stopped for a moment. She remembered Ava's crying face. She remembered how Ava ran. But then she remembered how Tori had been encountering people like this girl her whole life, and Tori had never done anything about it. She thought of Ava, but she said it anyways, "-that's what they say about _dykes._" Tori felt both proud and disgusted with herself. She had managed to defend herself in a way she never would have done in High School, but suddenly she felt like one of those girls that she had always hated when Tori was fifteen.

The waitress's eyes narrowed, staring at Tori, and making Tori honestly want to run away. The girl didn't just look mad, she looked murderous. Her hand grabbed a glass of water, and it twitched, making Tori wonder if in a moment, she was going to end up more drenched that she already was. But then the girl hesitated, and Tori remained dry. And then a smile appeared on her face, even though it looked forced.

Tori had to admire the girl's self-control.

And then the girl dropped the glass. It shattered on the ground, falling into a thousand little pieces. And then the girl stepped over the shards, outstretching her hand. "I'm Jade."

Tori looked at her carefully, before reaching to shake it. Jade pulled away just before their hands met.

"You're Vega, aren't you?"

"Actually, I'm…" Tori began, before giving up, and just nodding.

"I have a memory for these things." The remains of Jade's glare disappeared into a smirk as she turned back away from Tori. "Go get dressed." It wasn't a request, it was an order. "I'll be waiting downstairs." Jade headed out of the door, leaving Tori staring at her back, before she turned around. "Oh, and one more thing… Call me a dyke again, and trust me, you'll fucking live to regret it."

And then the door slammed, and Tori could hear footsteps walking away from the hall.

What had she just done?

* * *

_**I'm not exactly sure what this chapter is.**_

_**I think this is probably a character development chapter. I know that both Jade and Tori are OOC here, compared to what they are in the , but the point is that they've changed a little bit. Back in high school, Tori never would have said that, and Jade wouldn't have ended up pouring coffee all over her head.**_

_**Oh, and just to clarify, Jade is bi. (You probably guessed that, given the Jori tag and the fact that she dated Beck for three years.) Tori… well, we'll see about Tori.**_

**Please review,**

**Forever Failing Better**

_**IAmImperfect**_


	4. Exes and Roommates

**6:59 pm**

Jade kicked her feet up onto the table, which was surprisingly neat for such a cramped house like this. Honestly, that girl was _not _what she had been expecting. Firstly, she had been expecting a guy. Secondly, from what she had seen around the house, she had been expecting a good looking guy with a pretty girlfriend who he was cheating on.

Instead, she had just gotten the girlfriend… who happened to be single. And a real bitch. Jade hadn't even liked her in the coffee shop, writing her name on the coffee cup, but it just had to be her that she invited out on a date, didn't it? It wasn't as if there was anything unpleasing about her physically, but the girl had a real attitude.

Despite herself, Jade's lips curled upwards, swinging back just a little on her chair. People used to say that about Jade.

In fact, people still said that about Jade.

_Beck had never used to care though._

Jade sighed. This incident was never going to form the relationship needed for her to get over Beck. The girl was pretty, but Jade had a feeling that if she was around her too long, she might just punch the pretty girl in her very pretty face until it wasn't so very pretty anymore.

Plus, even if she had liked Vega, Jade might as well have tried to flirt with a man in pink Prada. Vega was either straight, or so far down into denial that Jade wasn't sure if she would ever come out of it.

It didn't matter anyway. Jade was only here because she had to be. Beck was at her apartment right now. He had the nerve to dismiss her from her job, pile a box of her stuff in her hands and say that he was going to get his stuff from her place when she was on her _date._

_Jade suspected that was the only reason Beck had organised the 'date' in the first place. He hadn't done it because he cared about her. No, he had done it because he didn't want to go through the awkwardness of having to pick up his stuff while his ex-girlfriend was still home._

Jade didn't want Beck to pick up his stuff. Jade would no longer be able to wear his t-shirts when everything she owned was in the wash, and she wouldn't be able to put on one of his baggy jumpers and just inhale the smell of Beck.

_Although, inhaling his scent probably wasn't healthy._

Nothing about her relationship with Beck had been healthy though. She'd realised that a while ago. But that didn't make her want to back any less.

Jade placed her head in her hands. A lesser girl would have been crying by now. She didn't want to be here. She wasn't to be at home, lying in bed with a hot coffee and probably more chocolate that was healthy.

She sat there for a little while, just drowning in her own self-pity.

Little footsteps behind her alerted her to the fact that Vega was back. Jade pulled her head off her hands quickly, trying to make herself look as though nothing was wrong.

Jade twisted her head around to look at the girl, raising one eyebrow slightly at the girl's dress.

"You're still here?" It was somewhere between a statement and a question.

Jade nodded, her grin increasing every moment she stared at that outfit.

Vega looked down at herself, as if she couldn't work out for the life of her Jade was looking at. She stared blankly at Jade for a moment, as if she was almost too nervous to speak in front of her, which was possible after what Vega had said beforehand. Her mouth opened slightly, and the words she said were barely hearable. "What? What's wrong with me?"

And then, so fast that Vega almost jumped back in shock, Jade threw her head back and laughed. It was a maniacal laugh, something that she was saving in case she ever got to pay the Wicked Witch of the West. Jade sat back, pointing one expertly manicured finger towards Vega, struggling to talk through her own laughter.

"Your outfit!"

Tori looked down at herself, her fingers playing at the edge of her dress. It was striped with leopard print, definitely not even pretending to be subtle, with rose on it. The dress was close to looking nice, but the colours clashed slightly, and honestly, all Jade wanted to do was avert her eyes.

There was a moment of hesitation on Vega's face as her face fell, and the sight of her sadness made Jade both want to laugh even harder and slap the girl's face until that pitiful look fell off it.

"… What's wrong with my outfit?" Vega asked, as if she were a small child who had just been told that she wasn't allowed to have the candy she wanted.

"You don't even know, do you?" Jade put on an accent, imitating Tori's high and childish voice. "_What's wrong with my outfit?"_

Vega crossed her arms, pouting. "I'm being serious… And I _don't talk like that._"

Jade smiled, the smile of someone evil just before something evil happens. "First of all… you still dress like your sixteen." She walked towards Vega, with long strides, taking in the leopard print. "Vega honey,"

"Don't call me-"

"Vega honey, we're not in 2010 anymore. And really, even if we were, that outfit would _still _clash. Honestly, I find it hard to believe this was ever in style. Plus…" Jade paused for a moment, the corners of her mouth sliding upwards, "You can make the dress as tight as you want, but honey, you're never going to have curves. But I see you've made up for that by making the dress as short as possible. Vega, you're a singer, not a harlot."

The girl just looked down at herself, and Jade could almost see all the self-esteem that Vega had ever had fizzle right out of her features.

"Not so good with words when you can't just call somebody a dyke and be done with it, can you?" There was bitterness in her words, and true anger. Even Vega visibly flinched as Jade spoke.

Vega replied, her voice nervous and quiet. "How, did you know I was a singer?"

"Vega, look at this apartment. There's only one good reason why you're still in New York with this little money." Jade carefully raised one eyebrow. "Unless you actually are a harlot, I mean."

Vega shook her head quickly.

"Good, because I couldn't possibly spend my time with a harlot," That comment was accompanied with a wink. "I have to be the flirt in our relationship." Jade's manner was suddenly smooth again, with only traces of her earlier bitterness remaining.

"… We have a relationship."

"Don't worry Vega, I'm not fantasising about you naked…" Seeing Tori's shocked face turn to one of discomfort and a little bit of sheer terror, Jade grinned, and winked once more. She was going to have fun with this. "_yet._"

"You do realise my name is Tori, right?"

"Didn't know, don't care. Now come on." It was a spur of the instant decision, but once Jade had said it, she wasn't going to go back on it. She grabbed Vega's hand, pulling her towards the door.

"What?" Tori let her hand slip from Jade's confused.

"Come on loser, we're going shopping!"

**7:23 pm**

"So… by shopping, you meant?" Tori glanced up at Jade. They had passed the nearest set of shops ages ago. In fact, Tori wasn't even sure what part of New York they were in anymore.

"Nothing in particular, I couldn't resist the opportunity to use the line."

" … You watched Mean Girls?" Tori resisted the urge to burst out with laughter. Connecting the pink of Mean Girls with the black of Jade didn't seem to be possible.

"This entire generation watched Mean Girls, Vega, keep up."

And then silence fell. And they both sat there, in the cab, wondering what they were doing here. This was definitely not how Tori had expected the night to go. She had expected a charming dinner out with a handsome young man. She had expected the bartender she had seen in the coffee shop. Instead she had gotten Jade. She wasn't sure if she was entirely dissatisfied with this, even if she had already said one of the worst words in her entire vocabulary and had her entire outfit mocked.

She glanced down at her outfit momentarily. Maybe she _should _have retired it after that last birthday party. But it just had some sentimental value… and she had been in such a panic. She stared at the dress. Sentimentality was not a reason to keep something that didn't flatter you anymore. That was why she had ditched several of her past boyfriends (or they had ditched her), so why should she keep this dress. Tori firmly decided that the moment they got home, the tacky, leopard print dress was going to go straight into the bin, no matter how pretty Tori had thought it was when she had bought it in the first place.

Jade's voice was quiet and cautious. "The dress doesn't look _that _bad, you know."

Tori turned her eyes towards Jade's face, her eyes full of confusion. "What…?"

Jade shrugged slightly, her face contorted somewhere between a smile and a frown.

"Look, would you just make up your mind and leave it there?" Tori spoke, her voice harsh. She's was almost getting angry with Jade now. Tori couldn't get her head around the girl.

"But there's no fun if I don't keep people guessing."

"Maybe you should put other people before your own fun."

Tori caught Jade's stare, returning it evenly, and putting a bit of bitterness into it too. Neither of them wanted to be the first one to pull away, and so for a couple of moment they were just locked in the same gaze.

Jade pulled away first, and Tori felt a moment of triumph.

"Stop!" At Jade's scream, the taxi pulled over, and then Jade was out. And then Tori was sitting alone in the cab. Despite what she had said, Tori honestly didn't want to be on her own right now. She just felt sort of empty at the moment. This was the first time she had properly met somebody in New York and it seemed horrible that all of that would disappear because she _glared at somebody._

"Hurry the Hell up, will you?"

There was a sense of relief as Jade stuck her head back in, pulling Tori out of the taxi. Tori glanced around, looking up at the tall apartment in front of her. It wasn't an amazing place, but honestly, compared to the place in which she lived, it would have been heaven.

"Where are we?" Tori asked, but Jade didn't even take a moment to consider the question, moving on into the apartment. Tori hurried on quickly, attempting to always keep Jade in her line of sight. She glanced once at the sign declaring the elevator out of order, and sighed before rushing up the stairs after Jade. "Why the fuck are we running?"

By the time that Tori had gotten up the stairs, Jade was barely in sight anymore, forcing Tori to pick up her pace again, dashing after her. She did have to wonder why she was doing this? All of a sudden Jade had gotten all of the power.

_But then again, that didn't seem unexpected. Jade was this confident and beautiful girl dressed all in black, and Tori was far too skinny, flat chested, and apparently dressed like a slut. It seemed natural that Jade would leave and Tori would follow._

Finally Tori caught a hint of Jade having stopped. She was knocking on a door, and seemed to be almost screaming with frustration, but only making absolutely no noise. It was as if Jade needed to be able to let her anger out, but didn't want to make a fool of herself.

And then the door opened, and a very handsome man walked out. The moment that the door opened, Jade's eyes shifted over to Tori, beckoning Tori towards her.

Once Tori neared the two, she was able to hear what they were actually saying.

"You're still here?" Jade sighed, and if Tori had thought there was anger in Jade's voice when she spoke to Tori, it was nothing compared to the way she was talking now.

"Well, this is my apartment, isn't it?"

"No." Jade crossed her arms, and Tori was beginning to wonder what she had gotten herself in to.

"We both know you can't afford it, given that you just got sacked today." There was a sad but slightly gloating smile on the guy's face. "You know, there was nothing that I could do. It was the last straw."

"Nothing you could do?" Now Tori was standing forgotten besides them as they argued. "You could have not fired me. You could have not stolen my phone. You could have _not **dumped me.**_"

"Jade. Be reasonable here. I'm not moving out for you out of guilt. This is my apartment. You can't afford it. And it's a two person bedroom apartment anyway. What are you going to do, leave one as a guest room? You don't need a room for when you kick me out of our bed anymore. And you don't even have a job. You'd just lose the apartment even if I gave it to you."

"I'm hot, I'll get another job waiting tables soon."

"And the roommate?"

And then suddenly, Jade's eyes swivelled around to look at Tori. "Beck, meet Tori, my new roommate."

_Hang on. Wait? What?_

When the fuck did that happen? Tori had known her for almost an hour, and suddenly Jade was asking him to live with her. Tori didn't know whether Jade was being honest, or whether this was just a game that she was playing. Tori honestly expected Jade to lead her in, make Tori move all her stuff in, and then kick her out of the windows.

"Okay, so you just dragged some girl of the street to live here?" The man was examining Tori now, looking at her with a kind of sweet smile, knowing exactly how confused Tori was. Apparently he was the voice of reason around here. To be honest, Tori didn't think that would be hard to do around Jade.

"Nope. Actually, I think you'll find she's my new girlfriend."

_"Wait. Wha-"_

And then suddenly Jade's lips were on top of hers.

* * *

_**Okay... so I don't have a lot to say. I might have more to say later.**_

_**So they kissed. Yeah.**_

_**Forever Failing Better**_

_**IAmImperfect**_


	5. Have You Ever Been In Love?

**Thanks to beli94aylc, BeautyAsAWickedWitch, Jeremy Shane, Lilsky, TimelessReader, sqh123, tanis19, chase19, Charmdfan02 and Elimere.  
**

**7.38 pm**

Jade's lips were on Tori's before she had thought of another solution. It was the only idea that she had at the point, and although in hindsight it seemed unwise. But while her lips were on top of Vega's, she didn't feel like it had been an unwise thing to do, at all. It felt right. Despite herself, Jade felt the kiss becoming more passionate, Jade's tongue about to dart into Tori's mouth, when she realised where she was. And then she realised what she was doing. And then she remembered who exactly she was kissing.

They broke off suddenly, Jade struggling to maintain her composure in front of Tori, and Tori's face revealing her own surprise. It was unnerving how bad at this they were, given that they were both actresses by trade. But then again, they were both failed actresses, and maybe this was why.

Beck raised one eyebrow, staring at Jade. It was hard to decipher his expression, but Jade could almost swear that there was some emotion in his gaze. He was a hard person to figure out, and Beck knew it. There was a smile playing on his lips. Jade couldn't even tell if he knew they were lying.

"Still doubting the depths of our love then, Beck?"

"You're a lot of things, but you're not a shitty actress." Beck replied quickly, not letting a moment of silence settle between them. It did amaze Jade how Beck never showed anything. Beck had broken up with her. They weren't friends anymore. Beck was kicking Jade out of the apartment. And he was still being nice. He had no right to be nice to her. "Well, not _that _shitty an actress."

Jade smiled then. The little dig showed the edge of Beck's emotion. It had to be somewhere in there. She had seen Beck stressed, and confused, and even upset, when his mother passed away, but she had never seen Beck angry, or jealous. It had to be possible. She just needed to work a little harder.

"What do you want me to do Beck? Do you want me to just give up on my life? I thought you said when you broke up with me that you did not want to hurt me. Was that a lie? Am I just supposed to go home and cry over you?"

There was silence. Jade could see Beck almost reach out towards her. But he stopped himself.

"Whatever. I don't care. I hope you two have lots of fun together." And then Beck moved from the doorway, and Jade felt triumph come over her. Jade took a couple of small steps into the room, looking around. It was odd. Beck had packed up her stuff, leaving the room almost empty. There was no mess on the floor either. The only things that remained were the things Beck knew to be his. There was the large television sitting opposite the sofa, with all of the game consoles. Those were all Beck's. The kitchen was almost entirely intact, apart from the coffee machine currently sitting in a box by the door. Beck had definitely been fair with the division here. Out of the entirety of this apartment, Jade barely owned anything. It was hard to afford things when she worked as a waitress and had no rich daddy to fall back on.

Or rather, she had no rich daddy that would support her in what she was doing. Even her own family thought she was going to fail.

_Maybe she would. Maybe she already had._

She supposed it depended on what you defined as a failure. She was currently unemployed, and getting nowhere in her career. She glanced once more around the apartment, only to almost jump back in shock to find Beck right behind her.

"So you want me to leave this apartment, which as you can see is over half mine, and leave all my stuff behind so you can move in with your girlfriend of all of a day. Unless you were fucking when we were still dating."

Jade winced slightly at the swear. Beck didn't usually swear. And once her brain properly comprehended that, she smiled. Somewhere inside of her still hoped that Beck would realise that it hurt watching Jade be with somebody else, and then one day everything would go back to normal, She'd wake up and Beck would be lying next to her, and everything would be right with the world. Jade sighed a little. She had no idea if that would ever happen. For the moment she just had to focus on living her life.

"You have a week to remove your stuff."

"You don't seriously think this is happening, do you?"

Jade twisted around to face her ex-boyfriend. "I thought we'd gotten past this. We're staying, you're leaving, please get that through your head."

"No. I'm staying."

"No way in hell. You dumped me. I get the apartment." Jade folded her arms across her chest as she spoke, keeping her eyes fixed on Beck's.

"No." Beck's voice was quiet.

"It's mine."

"_No." _And now Beck's voice was louder.

"Get the fuck out of _my _apartment." Jade spat out her words, letting all of her anger lose.

Jade's face seemed only inches away from Beck's now. If it had been years ago, this would have been when she leaned in to kiss him, and then they would have forgotten all of their old problems as they gave in to their own lust. But today they were different people than they had been years ago. Beck was still attractive, but she didn't feel the urge to kiss him until his lips dropped off. She saw the fact that even if she did, in the morning he would still be the same as he was the night before. She couldn't change him. She shouldn't even try.

**7:45 pm**

Tori's brain seemed to be locked out of any possible comprehension. She had just been kissed by a woman she met about an hour ago. And now she was apparently both this girl's girlfriend and her roommate. All she knew for sure was that there was something going on between Jade and the guy she was talking to. Tori felt like she could cut the tension in the room with a knife.

"I am not kidding. You have to leave."

"Why don't you just try and make me."

Tori felt like she could no longer tell the two apart. They were just endlessly bickering. The two were like a married couple.

_No._

Something made her feel wrong with that description. It just made her feel uncomfortable. She didn't like it. She would have referred to them as brother and sister, but that felt wrong too. They were just dysfunctional, she supposed. But from the look on Jade's face, Tori figured that they were too dysfunctional to ever work. She could see the pain on Jade's face even from where she was standing. There were a lot of dysfunctional relationships she supposed, lots of various kinds. She'd definitely been in a couple. She'd been in relationships where right then, the man would have slapped a girl like that.

"Shut up." A loud high voice shrieked her voice full of frustration. It took her a moment to realise that the voice was her own. "Shut up. It doesn't matter. Who cares? Ben…" her voice hesitated for a moment in an attempt to remember the correct name… "_Beck, _I mean," she could almost hear Jade in the corner sniggering, "you can go live anywhere. We'll pay you back half of what the apartment cost, and then you can be happy. But this is ours. You sacrificed the right to it."

Tori knew that she was talking complete bullshit, but she was hoping that Beckwould fall for it. He looked between the two of them, his emotionless eyes glancing back on forth on his expressionless face.

His voice spoke quietly. "Is this a punishment? Do you feel like I need to lose my home because I hurt you? Because this place is mine. It was always my sweet and tears that went into this apartment. You must have somewhere to live. Just stay with your girlfriend for a while…" his eyes glanced quickly at Tori, "or one of your friends."

Tori took deep breathes, and was about to speak once more before she heard Jade's voice behind her.

"Tori, let's just go."

"But-"

"I honestly don't care about any of this anymore."

Tori twisted around to face Jade, but she was only greeted by the sight of Jade's back and the slamming off a door and Tori just stood there in shock, watching her leave.

She glanced back at Beck, and regretted it. There was a tiny little smile making its way onto his face, although his eyes did show a little concern. Tori supposed that living with Jade would be an interesting experience, and one that wouldn't allow you to _win _very often. Jade was the kind of girl who would always have some kind of excuse with her. She would never just allow herself to fully lose. That could get tiring after a while. And looking once more at Beck, she could see how Beck would be happy to finally win.

But if to win somebody else has to completely and utterly lose themselves, is it worth it?

Beck eyes met hers for just a moment and then immediately dropped to the floor. Any attraction she had felt for him and his good looks evaporated. She turned on her heels and followed Jade's lead, calling her name.

The girl could not have gotten that far away. She had only left a moment before. It was just a matter of looking hard enough.

**8:15 pm**

Tori collapsed against the wall of the apartment building. She was nowhere. Jade was absolutely nowhere to be found. There was nothing left to do but go home now. Go home to a horrible apartment in a horrible neighbourhood and forget about the girl that she had only known for a couple hours. She had to leave now.

Her body refused to leave. She couldn't leave the girl all alone at night. It was cold, and dark and scary, and Tori wasn't sure if Jade would okay alone. And then Tori shivered. She realised that it wasn't just Jade alone in that situation. And Jade probably knew New York better than Tori did.

"So are you done looking then?"

Tori could have fainted with relief. She recognised the voice immediately, twisting to face it. There was Jade sitting against the wall, the black of her hair and her clothes blending with the black of the wall and the darkness of the night.

"I'm not leaving you alone. Not alone in New York at night."

There was a laugh. A bitter laugh, filled to the brim with sickness and apathy and just generally coming from somebody who felt like the world had spit upon her and then laughed with joy and how she cried. But it was a laugh none the less. "It's only eight o'clock."

Tori glanced up at the December sky. It seemed so harsh for so early. She suddenly felt stupid for the way she had reacted earlier. She had never been very good at keeping calm. Even Trina had said that Tori got crazy when she didn't know what was going on. When Trina said you were crazy you knew you were fucking insane.

"It feels later."

Silence fell between the two once more. Tori could almost feel Jade hurting behind her. The silence felt so strange. Jade was never silent. Tori could feel Jade's brain searching for words to say, attempting to pull them out of nowhere.

The next words that came out of her mouth were quiet. They were so quiet it was hard to hear them. They were so quiet it was almost as if Jade didn't want her to hear it.

"Have you ever been in love?"

Tori struggled to blink back the image of Ava's face, slowly merging with Jade's. By now, André's face had long been forgotten.

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**Okay. I know it's been two months. I'm sorry. I do hope that you will still read and review though, even though this was a filler chapter. Bit of a teaser at the end there though.**

**Anyway, thanks, and now I'm on holiday, I should be able to write more.**

**IAmImperfect.**


	6. Her Name Was Ava

**Shameless self promotion time. Please check out a forum I run, The Topaz Awards, awards for the very best of the Victorious Fanfiction community, where nominations are just starting. You can find it either through going to the Victorious Archive, clicking on forums, and then clicking on The Topaz Awards, or just google it. See you there.**

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**8:13 pm**

"Have you ever been in love?"

The words slipped out of Jade's mouth before she even fully thought through what she was saying. It was not visible on her face, but secretly she was kicking herself. She wanted the girl in front of her to open up, but she was scared. If Tori started talking, then maybe Jade would have to answer her. Her curiosity was glad that she had said it, but she was smart enough to realise that maybe the decision would come back to bite her in the ass. The truth was, that was really wanted to know what had made this girl the way she was. She wanted to know more about Tori because despite herself, maybe Jade was beginning to care for her.

For a moment, Tori did not move. She did not move for just about long enough for Jade to begin to hope that Tori had not heard her. After all, Jade had spoken quietly, her voice somewhere between a stage whisper, and the voice you used at two o'clock in the morning when if you woke up your parents, you were going to be grounded until you found your first grey hair.

And then she turned to face Jade, and nodded slightly, looking as miserable as Jade was currently beginning to feel about this situation. Her words came out quieter than Jade's had been. "I don't really know, but I think so."

Jade nodded along with her, a smile appearing on her face. "I know the feeling. It feels like love, doesn't it? It feels like love when it's happening. You get those little butterflies when it starts. Your stomach jumps when you hear their name, and it goes nuts when you hear them say yours." Her mind was suddenly full off memories. She could see the first time she met Beck, their first date, the first time she told him she loved him. Jade's voice trailed off into the distance as more recent memories began to surface. The way that Tori and her had kissed. The way Tori was looking at her this very moment.

Tori grinned along with Jade, continuing the discussion. "And every time they look at you, you feel excited. You can never believe that they could possibly like you, and when they do, you jump around in joy. A smile is plastered to your face for days. And then there are those private moments before anybody knows. There's the pure adrenalin when you think you might get caught. The adrenalin when you think you hear footsteps but you don't really care because your lips are locked and everything feels right with the world. And there's nothing else in your mind other than her eyes, her lips, her smile."

There was a pregnant pause. Jade's happiness evaporated in half a minute as her brain began to fully process what exactly Tori had said. And once she had fully processed it, she was angry.

"You little bitch."

"… I'm confused, why am I a bitch?" Tori responded, an adorably puzzled look on her face that Jade just wanted to slap right off her face. She looked like a puppy dog that had just pissed all over the carpet and then looked up at you, wondering why you were getting cross all of a sudden. And Jade hated dogs.

Jade's voice shot up an octave, putting a voice on. She could see Tori cringe in response. "I was expecting something a little more… _masculine_. But I have to say, you're not far off the masculine mark. But I guess that's what they say about _dykes, _isn't it, Tori?" Tori winced as she heard Jade speaking, obviously recognising her own words from the very first time that they had met. If they had stung when Tori had said them to Jade, they stung a million times worse now that Jade was parroting them back to Tori. But Jade wasn't done. In that moment, she really wanted Vega to feel pain.

"Because it's so horrible to not be one hundred percent straight. Even if I've been dating a guy for the last three years, I'm still a second class citizen because I can admire a girl's hair, eyes, and for heaven's sake, I can look at her tits in a way that I thought you couldn't. But no. Apparently you understand the moments when all you can think about _'her eyes, her lips, her smile'_. You make me sick, you know that? One of those people who just cannot stand themselves and decides that they need to take it all out on anybody remotely like them. I can just see how panicked you must have been when I showed up for our '_date'._ Like there was some innate quality in you that I must have magically picked up on." Jade's voice was slightly losing the sharp edge to it, but only just.

"I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you. You were trying to pretend for all these years that you were straight as a ruler. You were never allowed to look at a girl for longer than you should have, never allowed to let your gaze wander or admire a pretty girl. I bet you know exactly what it feels like to sneak around. What, were you scared that your parents would find out? That they would kick you out of the house? Or did you think that there was something wrong with you? That there was some horrible disease affecting you?"

Tori suddenly broke into her rant, her voice softer than Jade's, and full of desperation rather than venom. "Jade, I'm not gay. I'm not. I promise you that. It was just her. It was just that one girl. She walked into school one day all bright with energy, a gorgeous smile and an infectious personality. Before her I was very mainstream. I was a good little girl with a crush on the high school quarterback that everybody else was in love with, but the moment Ava walked in everything changed."

Jade smirked a little as she heard Tori talk, remembering the first time she cared about someone like that. She could see that it was the truth though. The look in Tori's big brown eyes was nostalgic, clearly able to see this Ava in her mind.

"She was quite open about it. She would make little jokes all the time. I tried to ignore it. It was just joking. People would flirt with the same gender all the time. It was just little jokes. But it meant that we were getting close. You didn't do that with people that you weren't close with. But then one day, she kissed me, and suddenly I was sneaking around with her, kissing her when nobody was looking. But then they outed her. Somebody looked in through the window of a room, and saw her, making out with a brunette whose face nobody saw. She got virtually chased out of school. And then I moved on. I never crushed on another girl again. Ava was a one off, a freak accident. I may have loved a girl, but Jade, I'm _not gay."_

"Vega, what do you think that being gay actually means? It's just another defining word, putting you into a box. I'm not gay, I'm not straight, I don't care about that. But the truth of this matter is that you are a _hypocrite._ You really think you're not gay because you've tried your best to conceal your urges since them. You think that suddenly you're straight because you've gotten over this girl. You think you're straight, do you Vega? Then prove it."

**8:20 pm**

Jade lips were on top of Tori's before she had even fully processed what happened. That seemed to be happening to Tori and Jade a lot recently. But the difference was that, this time, Tori was trying desperately to prevent herself from reacting. Before, the shock of it had done that for her. This time, as weird as it was, it was almost like Tori had been expecting it. Preventing any reaction from taking place was difficult. Jade was passionate, controlling the kiss, her hands in Tori's hair. Tori didn't know how to react, or what to do. She had not had a kiss like this since Ava was kissing her. They were alike in so many ways, Ava and Jade. They didn't look much alike. Ava was skinny as a stick, and light haired, nothing compared to Jade's curves and the combination of her dark hair on her skin. But Jade looked almost like Snow White, a twisted version of the Disney princess, and Ava had been like that too. She constantly broke expectations, smiling and flirting and _pushing things too far._

Tori suddenly sprang into action, shoving Jade off. She shoved her lightly first, then harsher, and then so hard that Jade ended up on the floor. Then Tori stood looking down on her, venom making its way into her own voice as the anger boiled up. "_How dare you, _Jade? So I have a problem. So maybe I've looked at you in ways that I shouldn't. So maybe I've began to care for you. So what? Can you not see that I'm not ready for this yet? Have you never understood the concept of listening to the way somebody else feels? So what if _gay _is just a word? It doesn't describe me." Tori's voice began to trail off a little, but she forced herself to keep it going strong. She had to get these words out, and it was only as she said them that she began to realise that everything she was saying was true.

"I just need some time to work out what word describes me. And what I don't need, are you putting your lips on mine anytime you think that it's going to help you get your own way. I don't need you kissing me in an effort to manipulate me. I have enough swirling around in my head." Angry tears were beginning to fall down Tori's face, ruining her make-up even further than it had been in the first place. Her voice trailed off completely down, leaving a tangible silence alone in the air.

But then Tori extended out a hand. She could see Jade staring at it for just a moment to long, and she could only dream out what was swirling around in Jade's mind, but eventually the dark haired young girl looked up at the hand in front of her, and grasped it firstly with her own, pulling herself back up onto her feet. Tori drew her mouth near to Jade's ear and whispered quietly.

"Why I am feeling this Jade? Explain it all away, make it all better. You always have a solution to everything, always a quick word to say, so why can't you fix me now? I'm not supposed to be feeling this... not for you." Tori laughed to herself, almost hysterically. "The worst part is, I don't even know what I'm feeling." She looked at Jade, her eyes piercing. "All I know is that I enjoyed kissing you."

"Oh, I definitely have an answer. You're feeling this, Tori, because it's right, and because it's real. You're feeling this because there's no reason why you shouldn't. I don't need to _fix you. _This is a simple attraction Tori, between two people, coupled with the feeling of caring about somebody that isn't yourself. Don't tell me you've never felt it before. It's not love, not yet." Jade spoke carefully, trying not to offend the girl, but Tori nodded. "But it's not unnatural, it's not disgusting. It is a beautiful thing. And maybe you're also feeling this because you've been through a bad break-up, or been looking for somebody for a while, I don't know, because honestly, I don't know every single detail of your life. But what I do know is that right now, there's nothing I want to do more than kiss you. But I'm not going to, even if you want to, because I guess, if you're not ready, no amount of me forcing you to kiss me is going to make you ready. I wasn't like you. I've never been like you. I can't understand why you're so scared, but you obviously are. So I'm just going to leave it." With those words, Jade began to turn around. She began to head away from Tori, and Tori could feel her insides becoming more and more twisted with every single step Jade took away from her. She walked fast, going quickly from so close that Tori could have reached out and stopped her walking away by merely grasping her hand to meters away, so far that Tori would have to run to catch up with her.

And so Tori ran. She ran after the girl who she had just told to leave her alone. The girl who had completely occupied her life for the last day and a half. She turned her around, and kissed her, firmly on the lips. It was a different kind of kiss from when Jade began it. It was softer, sweeter, more innocent. As Tori kissed Jade, it wasn't about a power struggle. It was Tori replaying Jade's words over and over in her own mind. _You're feeling this, Tori, because it's right, and because it's real._ It was a short kiss, and neither of them made an effort to make it last longer. It just felt right at the length that it was.

"Look, I like you. You can see that. I'm just… I'm not ready. And I need to go just a little bit of time without any of this. But I can't run away from my problems. So… call me, okay? We can go out properly some time. And maybe have a proper relationship." Tori began to turn away from Jade now, walking away in the opposite direction, when she heard the other voice call something.

"After all you've got my number."

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_**CHECK OUT MY A/N AT THE TOP.**_

**So... this is pretty much it, to be honest. I don't think it's getting another update. And actually, I don't think this is a bad ending. So please DON'T PUT THIS ON ALERT. Oh, and please don't favourite without reviewing.**

**But that's not to say you shouldn't review. I'd love it if you did. Pwetty Please.**

**IAmImperfect. - Wait, Shit - _TrickersImp_**


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